The invention relates to an image processing apparatus having storage areas for storing files.
An image processing apparatus such as a multi-functional peripheral (MFP) or a file server is connected through a network to external devices such as personal computers (PC) and runs jobs registered from the external devices. The image processing apparatus has a hard disk drive which can store many documents and can be operated from the external devices. The storage area in the hard disk drive is divided into storage areas, and each of the storage areas is called a box. In an example described in Japanese Patent laid open Publication 2004-104411, a box is provided for each authenticated user. An external apparatus sends a job to the image processing apparatus, and the job is stored in the user's box as a job. The user can perform an operation or processing such as copy or print on the jobs (documents) registered in the box. Further, if a folder in a personal computer as an external apparatus is set to be shared with the image processing apparatus, the image processing apparatus can use the shared box as an external box.
When an operator of an image processing apparatus starts to process a file stored in a box, he or she looks at a list of the files in the box and selects a file to be processed. The file list may be displayed in the order of file name or creation date or for each file format.
However, when an operator designates a file to be printed in the files stored in a box, he or she does not always remember the name of the file. For example, when a file was prepared by a person belonging to his or her group, it may take a long time to find the file if the file name is not remembered definitely. When a person belonging to his or her group browsed or printed a file created by a person in a different group, it may take a long time to find the file, similarly to the above case, though the possibility that the operator uses the file is high.